


Where the Wild Things Are

by Miranthia



Series: The Adventures of a Sky Badger [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 21:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13108893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miranthia/pseuds/Miranthia
Summary: "And Max, the King of all wild things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all." --Maurice Sendak





	Where the Wild Things Are

It was late in the fall - not even December - when they awoke one morning to find the grounds to be covered in a pristine blanket of snow. An alarming number of students had already gone to the Hospital Wing for a Pepperup Potion, due to the massive snowball fights that erupted every night when lessons were finished, along with mini ones that took place between said lessons. Despite the cold that had been brought along with it, all of the students were enjoying the first snow of the season, so much that not even their ever-growing piles of homework could dampen their spirits.

However, they knew that the homework would eventually win, and their fun would have to be put on a temporary hiatus.

 

Bands of golden afternoon light streamed in through the windows of the library, the sun sparkling merrily off the once-more pristine grounds. Another small flurry had pattered along in the night, leaving the marred landscape untouched once again. Susan stared longingly at the window for a moment longer before she sighed and turned her attention back to the books before her, scrolls of parchment waiting for her ink-laden quill to make contact with them as she flipped through the pages of her Herbology book. Alex was to join her later, once the Slytherin had finished her list of things she needed to accomplish. Sky chuckled to herself at the thought of her friend; she really could use some lessons in organization and time-management. If it wasn’t for Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, or Transfiguration, she left everything to the very last minute.

She was already working on her homework sooner than she normally would, so at least she was trying! At least she had consciously allowed herself to move out of her rowdy Common Room, her fellow Hufflepuff’s periodically bombarding her with random things, or congratulating her on their Quidditch win the week before.

The library was less chaotic, and infinitely quieter than that of her beloved Common Room.

Until, it wasn’t.

Amid her very own page-flips, and that of other studying students scattered throughout the library, a quiet sniffling sound reached her ears. Susan frowned slightly to herself and quietly got to her feet, the sound coming just beyond the end of the aisle she was currently perched in. Just as she was about to round the corner a quiet voice reached her ears, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

“Hey there little one, what seems to be the problem?”

A throat cleared gruffly, and the sound of someone furiously scrubbing at their eyes with a sleeve drifted around the corner to her. “N-nothing’s the matter. I’m perfectly fine. ‘S just…..dusty in here.”

A laugh that made her insides squirm pleasantly washed over her and, despite herself, Susan peeked around the edge of the bookcase, smiling at the sight before her.

Minerva was perched on a table next to a small boy, Susan recognizing him as one of the Slytherin first years. Despite his efforts to remain stoic and indifferent, the slight slump in his stature gave him away. However, the sixth year decided to humor him, and dropped the matter for the time being.

“What’s that you’re reading?” she asked pleasantly, making sure to keep her voice lowered in an effort to keep Madam Pince away.”

“It-it’s uh……..it’s- I’m reading….” he fumbled with the book in his hands, trying in vain to keep a much smaller one stashed in the pages of the heavy tome he had taken up. “It’s called- ah, shoot! Don’t….” he groaned in embarrassment, the older girl having picked up the fallen book before he could reach it.”

“ _‘Where the Wild Things Are’_?” Minerva asked curiously, Susan seeing that eyebrow quirk as the girl turned to study the boy next to her. “I don’t think I’ve heard of this one before.”

“It’s a…..a  **Muggle**  book.” the boy said quietly, his cheeks beginning to redden underneath the Gryffindor’s gaze.

 

Susan grinned from her hiding spot, knowing the book all too well. It was one of her favorites growing up! She knew that Minerva had known of the story prior to this; she had read it to Susan’s little niece, Rowan, plenty of times. She also knew that this was the girl’s way of getting the boy to open up to her about what was bothering him. While he may have been a Slytherin, that didn’t stop her from caring.

 

“Is it a  _sad_  story?”

“No! No it’s not sad at all.”

“Then why were you crying just now? Look, I’m all for reading books you love, but if they make you sad and you feel the need to  _hide_  it, then perhaps….”

“It…...it wasn’t the book.” he said with a sigh, his entire body slumping dejectedly next to hers. After a moment he spoke quietly once more, the gruffness gone to be replaced by a quiet little tremble. “I can’t read it in my Common Room, because my friends are just gonna make fun of me.”

“If they were truly your friends,” Minerva said sternly, though Susan could detect that underlying kindness she reserved for tense situations. “They wouldn’t make fun of you for something you enjoy doing. This book is special to you, I take it?”

The boy nodded and swiped at his eyes a second time. “Yeah. My mum has read it to me every year around the holidays for as long as I can remember. And now she….she can’t. She’s too sick to speak, most days.”

Susan felt her heart go out for the little guy, and wanted nothing more than to comfort him, but didn’t want to make her presence known for fear of causing him more embarrassment. Instead she kept her eyes glued to her friend, a soft smile curling her lips as Minerva slowly scooted closer to the first year, the boy not even offering to pull away from her as he had before.

“I’m sorry to hear about your mum. Are you going to be able to see her during break?”

“Yeah.”

“Well….. _she_  might not be able to read to you, but  **you**  could read to her instead. I’m sure she would absolutely love that.”

“You think?” he asked in interest, his back straightening as he looked up at the older girl next to him, Susan able to see the hope that gleamed in his tear-filled eyes.

“I don’t think; I know so.”

“I’m…...I’m not very good at reading things. Out loud, I mean.” His back slumped once more and he looked down at the book in Minerva’s hands. “I’m slow, and I stutter a lot.”

“Practice makes perfect.” Minerva said with a grin, offering the book back to its owner. “Could you read it to me?”

He stared at her incredulously, looking from the book in his hands back up to the girl beside him. “R-really? You want me to read to you?”

“Of course!”

“If you say so….” The boy cleared his throat importantly, and with trembling hands, opened the book to the first page, his body subconsciously leaning into the sixth year next to him as he began to read to her.  _“Th-th-the night Max wore his w-w-wolf suit and made mi-mi-mischief of one kind, an-and another, his mother called him, “WILD THING!”.....”_

Susan perched on the desk next to her, curling her legs up and leaning back against the bookcase as she listened to the boy read on about Max. She smiled gently to herself and rest her head back against the dusty tomes that towered above her, sky blue eyes closing as the sound of Minerva’s quiet laugh washed over her yet again, the boy’s own small chuckle joining it as his voice grew stronger the longer he read on into the gold shrouded afternoon.

 


End file.
